Process for producing decorative material



Oct. 10, 15939. E. R. COHOE PROCESS FOR PRODUCING DECORATIVE MATERIAL Filed March 2, 1935 VAUAVA lNVEI lTOR ATTO NEZY Patented oct. 10, 1939 UNITED STATES PROCESS FOR PRODUCING DECORATIVE MATERIAL Eleanor Rubidgc .Cohoe, Riverdale-on-Hudson,

Application March 2, 1935, Serial No. 9,033

the sheet material through a bath to'wet the same. Thereafter the wet sheet is squeezed 10 between press rollers, to the upper one of which it sticks, and on which it meets a wide doctor blade which removes the material and builds up the creping. After this, the wet creped sheet is dried to render the creping permanent. In such prior processes, the strength of the material is temporarily weakened by wetting the sheet and the shrinkage due to the creping is so great that the length of the creped web is only a fraction of the original length of the web, thus greatly increasing the cost of the creped product.

In the creping of non-fibrous, relatively homogeneous materials such, for example, as regenerated cellulose, difilculty has been experienced in producing a'satisfactory creping of the material by the method above described for preparing creped paper. When the non-fibrous film is removed from the upper press roller by the doctor blade, it tends, unless partially dry, to leave the roller before contacting the blade with the result that a number of smooth, uncreped areas occur in the finished product. Moreover, this creping, when performed on transparent films,

not only destroys the transparency of the prod-- uct, butalso reduces the light reflected from their surface. Moreover, the ridges produced by creping are always at a right angle to the direction in which the material being creped travels during the process, so that the resulting product lacks variety of surface effect. 1 Furthermore, when an attempt is made'to laminate this creped .material with other sheet material either plain or creped it will be found that, because of the intensive ribbing of the creped material, the contiguous surfaces do not contact over a sufllcient area to'properly join thetwo together unless a very thick coating of adhesive is applied, in which case the flexibility of the resulting product is greatly reduced.

esses of creping by subjecting a non-fibrous material to a deformation of the surface while in a substantially dry condition and without producing any such substantial shrinkage of the material It is a general object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior proclongitudinally of the web as has been heretofore encountered.

Another object of the invention is the production of an improved decorative film of non-fibrous material which distinguishes over a creped sheet 5 in having its surface deformed into a multiplicity of ridges of such irregularity in size, character, and arrangement as to impart to the sheet a variety of decorative optical effects.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an apparatus for crinkling sheet materials so as to produce therein new and novel decorative effects.

It isa specific object of the invention to produce a crinkled sheet material from non-fibrous, l5 relatively homogeneous material by producing a multiplicity of wrinkles therein of such irregularity and variety of design as to impart to the material a new and noveldecorative effect.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

It has now been found that a new and novel crinkled effect can be produced on sheet material by twisting a non-fibrous sheet material into the form of a relatively cylindrical compact mass, such as a cord, and thereafter untwisting the mass.

The .process of the invention is applicable for crinkling various types of non-fibrous material.

It is particularly advantageous for crinkling nonfibrous, relatively homogeneous sheet material such, for example, as a film of regenerated cellulose, cellulose esters, cellulose ethers, gelatin, casein, rubber and synthetic resin materials as well as materials having in appearance at least 86 one continuous phase such, for example, as glassine, imitation parchment papers and the like as well as papers coated with a film-forming material and papers laminated with a homogeneous film. The, material may be colored, opaque or 40 transparent and the films may be in the form of narrow bands, ribbons or webs of substantial width.

For a more complete understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatical representation in top view of one embodiment of the apparatus for forming sheet material into a cord in accordance with certain steps in the process of the invention;

2 is a sectional view of part of the apparatus of Fig. 1 taken along the line 2-4 thereof;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatical representation in top 66 forming crimped sheet material from the cord produced with the apparatus of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of part of the appara' tus of Fig. 3 taken along the line 4-4 thereof;

Fig. 5 is a representation of sheet material crinkled in accordance with the process of'the invention;

Fig. 6 is another embodiment of the novel articie of the invention comprising a crinkled sheet which'has been coated in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 7 is a representation of a laminated material comprising one embodiment of thearticle of the invention; and

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of a further embodiment of the improved laminated article of 'the invention comprising a backing sheet and a crinkled sheet superimposed thereon.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 4, a web of non-fibrous sheet'material [0 from a supply roller II provided with a suitable tension device, is passed under a guide roll l2 which guide roll may advantageously be provided at one end with a swivel bearing and at the other end with known means for reciprocating it transverse of the web to inhibit transverse slipping of the web. The ma- 'terial'then passes onto a drum l3 from upon which the sheet material is twisted into a cylindrical cord M which is pulled through a forming and guiding tube l5 by means of the spinning capstans I6. The twisted cord M is wound upon aspool ll which-is carried in a suitable spinning frame I8, provided with means for giving it a suitable transverse motion.

There may be provided, further, a plurality of freely rotatable rollers l9 supported at one end only and'having their free ends positioned on a line substantially coaxial with the twisted cord M. The free ends of the rollers I9 define the angle of twist with respect to the web l0 and facilitate the twisting operation. From Fig. 2

.it will be seen that the rollers l9 lie in an are adjacent the arcuate surface of the roller l3.

The cord I4 is preferably maintained under tension for aperiod sufficient to render the deformation of the surface more or less permanent. Suitable tension is obtained by leaving the cord wound tightly upon a spool for several hours.'

Referring now to Fig. 3, the cord I4 is untwisted by passing it from the spool II positioned in a-frame 20 which is rotated about its axis so as to untwi'st a cord led from the spool. The cord I 4 is drawn from the spool I! through the hollow axle and guide tube 2| and then onto a roller 22 upon which the cord is untwisted into a sheet 23. A plurality of rollers l9 similar to the rollers l9 may be employed to facilitate the untwisting of the cord.

The crinkled material 23, as it passes forward, contacts a scrimp roller 24 which smooths out coarse inequalities on the upper surface and subsequently contacts a ,Second scrimp roller 25 which performs a similar action on the under surface. The angle of contact which the moving material makes with these scrimp rollers may be controlled so as to regulate the width and the degree of smoothness of the finished material. If necessary, either before or after the scrimp rollers, a pair of guide rollers may be used. The material is then wound upon the rotatable roller 26 which is driven by friction in contacting the arcuate surface of the positively driven roller 21.

The rollers l9 and I9 may be replaced by a suitable equivalent such'as a rigid bar having a "view of one embodiment of the apparatus for plurality of projections thereon which contact the web along a line coaxial with said cord and which serve to comb out the cord into a flat sheet, or the rollers l9 and [9' may be replaced by a plurality of jets of air.

It is preferable to subject the non-fibrous material to the action of a swelling or softening agent before crinkling it. To carry out this step,

the web l0 coming from the roller II is passed through a chamber 28 containing the vapor of a substance having a swelling action on the web. For example, with a web of regenerated cellulose, the chamber 28 may contain water vapor at a relatively low temperature, and with a cellulose derivative, a known swelling or softening agent may be used. The slightly softened sheet is twisted and untwisted by means of the apparatus and in the manner above described. The effect of the swelling agent is to render the sheet material plastic and more readily deformable in consequence of which a greater number and variety of wrinkles occur and it also tends to decrease the height and length of the wrinkles. The amount of softening agent applied is regulated so that no free liquid remains on the surface of the web.

Considerable variation in the character of the crinkled surface may be produced by controlling the general angle which the ridges, produced by the twisting mechanism, make to the line of travel of the sheet. If the axis of twist is parallel to the line of travel, a product having a plurality of fine ridges, themajority of which radiate from the central portion of the sheet, will be produced.

However, if the axis of the twisted material forms been twisted first in one direction, then untwisted and retwisted either in the same or in the opposite direction and thereafter again untwisted and flattened; for the double twisting produces a greater number of ridges and therefore a greater crinkled effect.

The decorative effect of the crinkled product may be enhanced by various treatments of the material prior, during or after the crinkling operation. For example, after the web has been twisted into the form of a cord, the surface of the cord may be splashed, coated or sprayed with a coloring material so that when the cord has been untwisted, the crinkled sheet will have a variegated appearance due to the deposits of color occurring at irregular intervals. The coloring material is preferably a substantive dyestuff for the sheet and may be applied in a suitable solvent capable of wetting the surface of the material accord ng to its character.

A particularly attractive decorative material is produced by first laminating, coating, spraying or depositing by cathode sputtering or otherwise a thinfllm of metal upon the surface of the sheet material prior to the crinkling operation. The product thus metallized and crinkled will have a high reflectivity and a shiny lustrous appearance, due to the multiplicity of facets produced by the crinkling operation.

In order to enhance the decorative effect produced by the crinkling operation, the crinkled sheet 23 may be coated with a layer 29 of a suitable flexible composition which is adapted to fill the valleys 30 between the ridges 3| on. the surface of the sheet, as shown in Fig. 6.

when a colored, crinkled sheet is coated, the composition applied may have a color contrasting with the color of the sheet material. Moreover, a decorative filler such, for example, as bronzing powder may be added to the coating composition. Upon drying, the filler tends to settle in the valleys leaving the ridges bare and an attractive and variegated effect will be obtained.

The coating composition may comprise a nitrocellulose lacquer adapted on drying to give a wrinkled surface coating, such composition being well known in the art. In the product thus produced, the wrinkled finish of the lacquer adds to the wrinkled finish produced by the crinkling operation, thus giving the, article a very attractive appearance. If desired, the sheet material prior to or after the crinkling operation may be embossed in a known manner to produce further plastic deformation of the surface to enhance its decorative effect.

The invention further contemplates an article formed by laminating a sheet of the crinkled sheet material to a sheet of fibrous or non-fibrous material, preferably to another sheet of the crinkled material of the invention. In the latter modification of the article, it has been found best to laminate the materials so that the majority of the creases and wrinkles in at least half of the number of sheets so laminated will be at an angle to the majority of the wrinkles and creases in the other sheets, as shown in Fig.- 7. The lamination may be'carried out by the use of a suitable adhesive, by sewing, stapling, etc., or where one or more of the materials forming the laminated structure comprises a heatsealable composition, the lamination may be performed by the application of heat and pressure.

It has been found that the strength of the material, is greatly increased and a novel and pleasing efiect obtained if one or more sheets of the crinkled material is laminated, with a suitable backing material. There is illustrated in Fig. 8 a laminated material comprising a sheet 23 of crinkled material and a sheet or film 32 of paper, textile fabric, metal, leather, or an uncreped sheet similar in character to the creped material. In particular, an enhanced decorative effect is obtained if the crinkled sheet is backed by metal foil or a sheet material having a metallic appearance.

The novel article of the invention may be employed in the manufacture of artificial flowers, trimmings for wearing apparel and millinery, book covers, lamp shades, screens, wall paper, etc. The single sheets or the laminated sheets may also be fashioned into boxes, cartons, bags, baskets, belts and otherwise used as a novel and ornamental material.

It will thus be seen that by means of the present invention there have been provided novel processes and apparatus to the production of improved and technically important products which may be economically and easily prepared, and since certain changes in carrying out the above processes, and certain modifications in the apparatus and articles which embody the invenwith the axis of the twist at produce plastic deformation thereof resulting in the formation of a multiplicity of permanent, fine and irregular wrinkles inthe material, and untwisting said mass.

2. A process for producing a. crinkled sheet material, comprising twisting a film of nonfibrous cellulosic material into a. substantially cylindrical compact mass, exerting sufilcient tension upon said material to produce plastic deformation thereof resulting'in the formation of a multiplicity of permanent, fine and irregular wrinkles in the material, untwisting said mass, and flattening said material.

3. A process for producing a crinkled sheet material, comprising twisting a film of nonfibrous cellulosic material into a substantially cylindrical compact mass, exerting tension upon said material, permitting said mass to remain under tension to produce plastic deformation thereof resulting in the formation of a multiplicity of permanent, fine kles in the material, and untwisting said mass.

4. A process for producing a crinkled sheet material, comprising advancing a continuous film of non-fibrous cellulosic material, twisting said film into a substantially cylindrical compact mass an angle to the longitudinal axis of the film so that the axes intersect, exerting sufiicient tension upon said material to produce plastic deformation thereof resulting in the formation of a multiplicity of permanent, fine and irregular wrinkles in the material, and untwisting said mass.

5. A process for producing a crinkled sheet material, comprising twisting a film of nonfibrous organic plastic material into a substantially cylindrical compact mass, exerting suill-v cient tension upon said material to produce plastic deformation thereof resulting in the formation of a multiplicity of permanent, fine and irregular wrinkles in the material, and untwisting said mass. 1

6. A process for producing a crinkled sheet material, comprising twisting a film of nonand irregular wrinfibrous cellulosic material. into a substantially cylindrical compact mass, exerting sumcient tension upon said material to produce plastic deformation thereof resulting in the formation of a multiplicity of permanent, fine and irregular wrinkles in the material, untwisting said mass, twisting the material in the opposite direction into a substantially cylindrical mass, and untwisting said mass.

ELEANOR RUBIDGI: COHOE. 

